Get Untangled
You can love someone deeply without losing yourself.
Get Untangled offers practical, non-clinical guidance for parents and families navigating substance use, recovery, boundaries, difficult conversations, and next steps — one day at a time.
You are not alone in this.
When someone you love is struggling with substance use, it can bring fear, confusion, guilt, anger, and exhaustion. You do not have to solve everything today.
Start with one clear next step. That is the only thing in front of you on this page.
Whatever brought you here — a partner, a child, a parent, a sibling, a friend — the shape of loving someone through substance use is not a textbook problem. It is a household problem, a calendar problem, a conversation problem. We treat it that way.
Four areas where families tend to need the most steady ground.
Each one is a starting place — a single page of plain-language, non-clinical guidance you can act on without a course, an intake form, or a subscription.
Set household rules that hold — even when the person you love pushes back — without turning the home into a battlefield.
Read the Boundaries pageTalk about substance use without escalation: open the door, stay in the room, and leave the conversation with something you can act on.
Read this sectionShow up for a loved one in recovery in ways that actually help — without monitoring, hovering, or quietly resenting the work.
Read this sectionMove from "we should do something" to one clear next move: a call, a conversation, a boundary, a yes, a no.
Read this sectionFour reads to begin with. No signup, no fee, no list to join.
A short read on opening the door when the person you love is not yet ready to talk.
We are preparing this resource. Plain-language, non-clinical, and freely available when it is ready.
Pick one rule. Decide what you will do when it is broken. Practice the words out loud.
We are preparing this resource. Plain-language, non-clinical, and freely available when it is ready.
What tends to shift after a stay, a program, or a detox — and what to keep steady in your own life.
We are preparing this resource. Plain-language, non-clinical, and freely available when it is ready.
Five minutes a day for the person caring for the person. No app, no streak, no guilt.
We are preparing this resource. Plain-language, non-clinical, and freely available when it is ready.
My Sober Stay.
A separate, independent guide to sober living and recovery residence options across the United States. We link to it because families often ask us where to look when a loved one is ready for a structured living environment.
The information on My Sober Stay is independently operated and is not published or endorsed by Get Untangled. We do not run, recommend, or vouch for any individual residence, and we do not receive a commission for anything you find there. Use it as a directory — not as medical, legal, or clinical advice.
Soberly tools for the family side.
Soberly offers a separate set of plain-language tools and written guides aimed at families and loved ones. Some readers find them useful alongside what is here.
Like all resources we link to, Soberly is independently operated. Get Untangled does not endorse any individual treatment, residence, paid product, or service mentioned there.
Find help now.
If you or someone you love is in immediate danger — medical, mental-health, or personal safety — please reach out to the resources below before anything else on this page.
Call 911
For a medical emergency, an overdose, or any situation where someone may be in physical danger.
Call or text 988
For a mental-health crisis, suicidal thoughts, or emotional distress. Free, confidential, available 24/7.
SAMHSA National Helpline
1-800-662-HELP (4357). Free, confidential, 24/7. Information on local treatment, support groups, and recovery resources in English and Spanish.
Find local treatment and support.
The SAMHSA treatment locator helps you find nearby substance use treatment, mental-health services, and recovery support — regardless of ability to pay.
The locator is operated by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Get Untangled is not affiliated with SAMHSA and does not guarantee the accuracy of listings.
What we are, and what we are not.
Get Untangled is a free educational resource for families — not a therapy practice, a treatment program, a sober-living facility, a crisis line, or a licensed service.
Nothing on this site is medical, mental-health, or legal advice, and nothing here is a substitute for professional care that fits your family's specific situation. We do not diagnose, treat, prescribe, or make promises about outcomes.
We aim to be honest, calm, and useful. If we are not, please tell us — we would rather hear it than guess.
Get Untangled